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The air was thick with magic, which seemed to muffle every noise.
Everyone stared at Noctus, who stood motionless, his rapier thrust into the ground.
Unable to stand it any longer, I spat out the grit the pendant had transferred to my mouth.
This seemed to break the spell as Noctus pulled his rapier out of the ground. “It’s destroyed,” he announced.
More worried about getting some kind of disease or bacteria from the pendant than I was about social manners, I wiped my tongue off on the sleeve of my jacket as I trotted back to Noctus. “It’s dead?”
“Cracked and deactivated.” Noctus knelt as I reached him, picking up the cracked pendant that was now in two jagged pieces. “Not as cleanly as I would like, but it will do.”
“That took a lot of power to break,” I said.
“Destroying any elven artifact requires a great deal of power,” Noctus said. “The stronger the artifact, the more power is needed to break it.” He handed me the two pieces, dropping them in my palm.
I waited for a moment, tensed, trying to see if I could sense anything from the pendant. When I felt nothing, my shoulders slumped in relief.
It was over.
I exhaled and pocketed the pendant—I’d have to give it to the Cloisters since it was evidence, but I was not going to lose it. Then, my heart painfully full of hope, I threw my arms open wide as I boosted myself onto the tips of my toes.
Chapter Twenty
Chloe
Noctus scooped me up, pinning me against his armored chest with one hand as he swept a gauntlet-clad hand through my hair to cradle the back of my head.
His armor dug into my skin and uncomfortably poked me, but it was the most precious hug I’d ever had.
“Thank you,” I whispered. “Thank you for coming.” Tears blurred my eyesight as I rested my forehead on his pauldron. It was cold, and the edges cut into my skin, but I didn’t care.
“Always,” Noctus said.
I started to nod, until his words finally caught up with my brain. “Wait, what?” I picked my head off his shoulder and peered up at him. “But—you can’t. Even this—what are we going to do?” I was too afraid to say anything, so I tried to meaningfully glance at Oleander and Prydwen.
I couldn’t get a read on Noctus thanks to the helm he still hadn’t taken off, but his hand was gentle as he smoothed my hair. “It’s okay, Chloe,” he said, his voice mellow and warm.
“No, it’s not okay,” I hiccupped. “How are you going to cover this up?”
“We won’t,” Noctus said.
“You won’t?” I repeated.
“Wewon’t,” Noctus corrected.
No, I had to be misunderstanding him. There was no way the elves were coming forward. That would never happen.
“But…?” I started, but couldn’t even find the words to say.
Noctus moved the neckline of my sweater, seemingly inspecting me. “Calor Villa will reveal itself.”
I was afraid to breathe—anything I did might break the moment, and I’d find out it was all just a dream. “Then…we can…?”
“Yes.”
A sob clogged my throat as I threw myself into Noctus’s shoulder, holding him tighter.
In one moment, the agony that had endlessly torn at my heart was gone.
